Figure IND 3a. Percentage of the Total Population Receiving AFDC/TANF, by Age: 1970-2001

Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, and U.S. Bureau of the Census, (available online at http://www.census.gov).

Although the survey data needed to examine overall welfare receipt and dependency are not yet available past 2000, administrative data for AFDC/TANF, food stamps, and SSI provide measures of recipiency for each of these three programs through 2001, as shown in Figures IND 3a, IND 3b, and IND 3c. Additional administrative data are shown in Appendix A.

Just under 2 percent of the population received TANF in 2001. This is the lowest rate of AFDC/TANF receipt in the 30 years shown in Table IND 3a. The percentage of the total population receiving AFDC/TANF has dropped significantly since 1994, when it was at a 25-year high of over 5 percent.

AFDC/TANF recipiency rates have been much higher over time for children than for adults, with the child recipiency rates also showing more pronounced changes over time. Between 1993 and 2001, the receipt of AFDC/TANF receipt among children was cut more than half (from 14 to well under 6 percent), the most rapid decline in a generation.

Table IND 3a. Number and Percentage of the Total Population Receiving AFDC/TANF, by Age 1970-2001

Fiscal Year

Total Recip(excludes territients ories)

Adult Reci(excludes terrpients itories)

Child Reci(excludes terpients ritories)

Number (thousands)

Percent

Number (thousands)

Percent

Number (thousands)

Percent

Notes: See Appendix A, Tables TANF 2, TANF 12, and TANF 14, for more detailed data on recipiency rates, including recipiency rates by calendar year. Recipients are expressed as the fiscal year average of monthly caseloads from administrative data, excluding recipients in the territories. Child recipients include a small number of dependents ages 18 and older who are students. The average numbers of adult and child recipients in 1998 and 1999 are estimated using data from the National Emergency TANF Data Files and thereafter using the National TANF Data Files.Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Family Assistance, and U.S. Bureau of the Census, (available online at http://www.census.gov).

1970

7,188

3.5

1,863

1.4

5,325

7.6

1971

9,281

4.5

2,516

1.8

6,765

9.7

1972

10,345

4.9

2,848

2.0

7,497

10.8

1973

10,760

5.1

2,984

2.1

7,776

11.3

1974

10,591

5.0

2,935

2.0

7,656

11.3

1975

10,854

5.0

3,078

2.1

7,776

11.6

1976

11,171

5.1

3,271

2.2

7,900

11.9

1977

10,933

5.0

3,230

2.1

7,703

11.8

1978

10,485

4.7

3,128

2.0

7,357

11.4

1979

10,146

4.5

3,071

1.9

7,075

11.0

1980

10,422

4.6

3,226

2.0

7,196

11.3

1981

10,979

4.8

3,491

2.1

7,488

11.8

1982

10,233

4.4

3,395

2.0

6,838

10.9

1983

10,467

4.5

3,548

2.1

6,919

11.1

1984

10,677

4.5

3,652

2.1

7,025

11.2

1985

10,630

4.5

3,589

2.0

7,041

11.2

1986

10,810

4.5

3,637

2.1

7,173

11.4

1987

10,878

4.5

3,624

2.0

7,254

11.5

1988

10,734

4.4

3,536

2.0

7,198

11.4

1989

10,741

4.4

3,503

1.9

7,238

11.4

1990

11,263

4.5

3,643

2.0

7,620

11.9

1991

12,391

4.9

4,016

2.1

8,375

12.8

1992

13,423

5.2

4,336

2.3

9,087

13.7

1993

13,943

5.4

4,519

2.3

9,424

13.9

1994

14,033

5.3

4,554

2.3

9,479

13.8

1995

13,479

5.1

4,322

2.2

9,157

13.2

1996

12,477

4.6

3,921

2.0

8,556

12.2

1997

10,779

4.0

3,106

1.5

7,673

10.8

1998

8,659

3.1

2,581

1.3

6,078

8.5

1999

7,068

2.5

1,973

1.0

5,096

7.1

2000

5,856

2.1

1,544

0.7

4,312

6.0

2001

5,383

1.9

1,385

0.7

3,998

5.5

Figure IND 3b. Percentage of the Total Population Receiving Food Stamps, by Age: 1975-2001

Source: USDA, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation, Characteristics of Food Stamp Households, Fiscal Year 2001, and earlier reports, and U.S. Bureau of the Census, (available online at http://www.census.gov).

The food stamp recipiency rate, like the AFDC/TANF recipiency rate shown previously in Figure IND 3a, has fallen sharply in recent years. The percentage of all persons receiving food stamps peaked in 1994, at nearly 11 percent, but dropped to 6.1 percent in 2000 with no change in 2001, its lowest point ever since the Food Stamp program became available nationwide in 1975.

As with AFDC/TANF, food stamp recipiency rates have been much higher over time for children than for adults. Between 1980 and 2001, the percentage of all children who received food stamps was between two and one-half to three times that for all adults 18 to 59.

Similar trends in food stamps recipiency – largely reflecting changes in the rate of unemployment and programmatic changes – existed across all age groups over time, as shown in Table IND 3b. The percentages of individuals receiving food stamps within all age groups declined from 1984 through 1988, rose in the early 1990s until reaching a peak in 1994, and then declined through 2000 with no appreciable change in 2001.

Table IND 3b. Number and Percentage of the Total Population Receiving Food Stamps, by Age 1975-2001

Fiscal Year

Total Recipients

Adult RecipAge 60 andients over

Adult Recip Ages 18-ients 59

Child RecipAges 0-1ients 8

Number (thousands)

Percent

Number (thousands)

Percent

Number (thousands)

Percent

Number (thousands)

Percent

Note: See Appendix A, Tables FSP 1 and FSP 6 for more detailed data on recipiency rates. Recipients are expressed as the fiscal year average of monthly caseloads from administrative data, excluding recipients in the territories. From 1975 to 1983 the number of participants includes the Family Food Assistance Program (FFAP) that was largely replaced by the Food Stamp program in 1975. From 1975 to 1983 the number of FFAP participants averaged only 88 thousand.Source: USDA, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Analysis, Nutrition, and Evaluation, Characteristics of Food Stamp Households, Fiscal Year 2001, and earlier reports, and U.S. Bureau of the Census, (available online at http://www.census.gov)

1975

16,320

7.6

–

–

–

–

–

–

1976

17,033

7.8

–

–

–

–

9,126

13.8

1977

15,604

7.1

–

–

–

–

–

–

1978

14,405

6.5

–

–

–

–

–

–

1979

15,942

7.1

–

–

–

–

–

–

1980

19,253

8.5

1,741

4.9

7,186

5.6

9,876

15.5

1981

20,654

9.0

1,845

5.0

7,811

6.0

9,803

15.5

1982

21,754

9.4

1,641

4.4

7,838

6.0

9,591

15.3

1983

21,668

9.3

1,654

4.4

8,960

6.7

10,910

17.4

1984

20,796

8.8

1,758

4.5

8,521

6.3

10,492

16.8

1985

19,847

8.3

1,783

4.5

8,258

6.1

9,906

15.8

1986

19,381

8.1

1,631

4.1

7,895

5.7

9,844

15.7

1987

19,072

7.9

1,589

3.9

7,684

5.5

9,771

15.5

1988

18,613

7.6

1,500

3.7

7,506

5.3

9,351

14.8

1989

18,778

7.6

1,582

3.8

7,560

5.3

9,429

14.9

1990

20,020

8.0

1,511

3.6

8,084

5.6

10,127

15.8

1991

22,599

8.9

1,593

3.8

9,190

6.3

11,952

18.3

1992

25,369

9.9

1,687

3.9

10,550

7.2

13,349

20.1

1993

26,952

10.4

1,876

4.3

11,214

7.5

14,196

21.0

1994

27,433

10.4

1,952

4.5

11,539

7.6

14,391

21.0

1995

26,579

10.0

1,896

4.3

10,962

7.2

13,860

20.0

1996

25,494

9.5

1,892

4.3

10,766

6.9

13,189

18.8

1997

22,820

8.4

1,834

4.1

9,385

6.0

11,847

16.7

1998

19,746

7.2

1,637

3.6

7,772

4.9

10,524

14.7

1999

18,146

6.5

1,699

3.7

7,090

4.4

9,332

13.0

2000

17,120

6.1

1,702

3.7

6,623

4.0

8,743

12.1

2001

17,297

6.1

1,660

3.6

6,789

4.1

8,819

12.2

Figure IND 3c. Percentage of the Total Population Receiving SSI, by Age: 1975-2001

Source: Social Security Administration, Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics, Social Security Bulletin Annual Statistical Supplement • 2002 (Data available online at http://www.ssa.gov/statistics), and U.S. Bureau of the Census, (available online at http://www.census.gov).

Unlike the recipiency rates for AFDC/TANF and food stamps, which have been influenced by outside factors such as the economy and welfare reform, overall recipiency rates for SSI show less variation over time. After trending downward slightly from 1975 to the early 1980s, the proportion of the total population that receives SSI has risen from 1.7 percent in 1983 to 2.5 percent in 1996 and subsequently declined slightly to 2.3 percent. As shown in Table IND 3c, the total number of recipients has grown by 71 percent over the same period, from 3.9 million in 1983 to 6.7 million people in 2001.

Elderly adults (aged 65 and older) have much higher recipiency rates than any other age group. The gap has narrowed, however, as percentage of adults aged 65 and older receiving SSI has been cut nearly in half, declining from 10.9 percent in 1975 to 5.6 percent in 2001.

The proportion of children receiving SSI increased gradually between 1975 and 1990, and grew more rapidly in the early-to-mid 1990s, reaching a high of 1.4 percent in 1996. The rate has since fallen, with 1.2 percent of children receiving SSI in 2001.

Table IND 3c. Number and Percentage of the Total Population Receiving SSI, by Age: 1975-2001

Date

Total Recipients

Adult ReciAge 65 &pients over

Adult Rec Ages 1ipients 8-64

Child Reci Ages 0-pients 18

Number (thousands)

Percent

Number (thousands)

Percent

Number (thousands)

Percent

Number (thousands)

Percent

Note: December population figures used as the denominators are obtained by averaging the Census Bureau's July 1 population estimates for the current and the following year (the December population estimates for the year 2000 are extrapolations of April 1, 2000 population figures). See Appendix A, Tables SSI 2, SSI 8, and SSI 9 for more detailed data on SSI recipiency rates. In this report the categories of children under 18 and adults 18-64 differ from those in previous editions where the category of children included a small number of dependents 18 and older who were students.Source: Social Security Administration, Office of Research, Evaluation, and Statistics, Social Security Bulletin Annual Statistical Supplement • 2002 (Data available online at http://www.ssa.gov/statistics), and U.S. Bureau of the Census, (available online at http://www.census.gov)

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